Zihuatanejo-Ixtapa Message Board - Alaska/MBNA Credit Card changes for Canadians.

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I am curious as to how Canadian holders of the Alaska/MBNA MasterCards are dealing with the forthcoming MBNA CC changes with the elimination of the ability to collect points or utilize some of the Alaska Airline perks such as Companion discounts and a baggage allowance.

Gracias,
Roberto!

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I suspect that Alaska will find a new Canadian bank to partner with. Selling miles to banks is a major source of revenue for airlines.

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I am curious as to how Canadian holders of the Alaska/MBNA MasterCards are dealing with the forthcoming MBNA CC changes with the elimination of the ability to collect points or utilize some of the Alaska Airline perks such as Companion discounts and a baggage allowance.

Gracias,
Roberto!

To say Alaska dropped the ball on this is an understatement. To date I have received nothing....nada....zilch.....from Alaska regarding the termination of their affiliation with MBNA bank for Canadian Alaska Mastercard holders.

Back in late July/early August, when MBNA bank announced that their affiliation with Alaska was ending effective 1 September, I contacted Alaska to ask how they were going to deal with Canadian Alaska Mileage Plan members/credit card holders. Basically, they had no idea. Apparently, us Canadians were chopped liver.

Alaska confirmed that accrued Alaska Miles don't disappear, but in response to my suggestion that expiry dates for Companion Fare vouchers be extended by, say, a year, they refused. In my case, my Companion Fare voucher expired 12 Sept/23, and, because we could no longer use a Canadian Alaska Mastercard to pay for an airfare after 1 September, we would lose the "first checked bag free" perk that went with the Mastercard.

Not willing to roll over, I got in touch with their Customer Support Department, or whatever they're called, and complained that Canadian Alaska cardholders and Mileage Plan members were being treated shabbily.

Upshot was that they agreed to extend the expiry date of my Companion Fare voucher by only a month or two, (after saying there was ABSOLUTELY NO WAY an expired voucher could be extended). To compensate for losing the "first checked bag free" perk, they offered me a $50 US credit, which I assumed could be applied against any future baggage charge at check-in......but no, it could only be applied against a future trip booking. Due to their delay in responding, I had already booked Kelowna to Zihua return, (and did not use the Companion Fare, because it was significantly cheaper to use Miles). When I told Alaska that I'd already booked, they said it was too late to deduct the $50 credit!

Aaaaargh! Booking airfares has to be one of life's most unpleasant experiences.

By the way, those old MBNA credit cards have been re-issued without the Alaska connection, and with no annual fee, (unlike the $75 fee, or whatever we paid before). "MBNA Points" can be earned according to the usual formulas, and, starting in 2024, will be convertible to Alaska Miles on a 1:1 basis.

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You are assuming that Alaska discontinued the association. Perhaps it’s the other way around. In all of the rewards cards, the banks buy the miles from the airline. It could be that the bank that sponsors the Alaska credit card in Canada no longer felt it was worth the expense.

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You are assuming that Alaska discontinued the association. Perhaps it’s the other way around. In all of the rewards cards, the banks buy the miles from the airline. It could be that the bank that sponsors the Alaska credit card in Canada no longer felt it was worth the expense.

I didn't care who left who. Either way, Alaska has made no effort whatsoever to notify cardholders and/or Mileage Plan members of the changes and how those changes affect their membership. For an airline that prides itself on customer service.....that's lousy customer service.

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I would have thought that the credit car company would have notified you of the changes. It's actually their product, not Alaskas's/ They buy miles from Alaska to give to you to entice you to use their credit card. The US credit card just went through some pretty big changes. I was noitfed by Bank of America. Alaska is marketing the card as "new and improved" now, but all of the notifications I received came fro Bank of America. Given that Alaska's primary Canadian market is most likely Alberta and territories west, perhaps a more regional western Canadian bank will pick up the ball.

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I would have thought that the credit car company would have notified you of the changes. It's actually their product, not Alaskas's/ They buy miles from Alaska to give to you to entice you to use their credit card. The US credit card just went through some pretty big changes. I was noitfed by Bank of America. Alaska is marketing the card as "new and improved" now, but all of the notifications I received came fro Bank of America. Given that Alaska's primary Canadian market is most likely Alberta and territories west, perhaps a more regional western Canadian bank will pick up the ball.

I thought I'd made it clear that it WAS the credit card company/bank....in this case, MBNA Bank (owned by TD Bank).....who had notified us. Obviously, they were required to do so, since the major terms of the card were changing. It sounds like you don't agree that Alaska has any obligation to notify Mileage Plan members of major changes to the way they can accrue or redeem Miles. I disagree. Alaska's total silence in this matter is simply lousy customer service ....period.....hence my comment that Alaska's Canadian Mileage Plan members are just chopped liver, but it sounds like they've ignored you too.

If only by population, I'm guessing that "British Columbia and territories east", not Alberta, are Alaska's primary Canadian market. But maybe that's just my provincial parochialism.

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I guess we disagree on this
There are no changes to Alaskas mileage program.
There is no change in how you accrue miles or use miles on Alaska airlines.
There is a change in how you are rewarded for using the card.
Your bank now gives you points instead of miles.

Alaska has never given you miles for using the card. Your bank bought miles from Alaska
and gave them to you for using the card.
This situation was not created by Alaska,
it was created by your bank changing the incentive for using their card.
The sale of miles to credit card companies is a major profit
Center for airlines.

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Thanks for you input.

"By the way, those old MBNA credit cards have been re-issued without the Alaska connection, and with no annual fee, (unlike the $75 fee, or whatever we paid before)."

We have the Alaska World Elite CC and were billed CAN$99. per year for 2 cards, however, the new MBNA World Elite wants CAN$170 for 2 cards.

Chances are we won't be renewing and looking for other carriers to fly to ZIH from our area - which is getting harder to do without overnight stays coming or going.

Roberto!

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We should rent a plane and you can fly us down. Rob posts all these great places in Troncones. I'm pretty sure that'll be my next Mexico destination, if I can ever shake this chemo.

--
Curly!

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I haven’t cancelled the new MBNA card yet because I haven’t figured out what I’m going to do for a MasterCard. I haven’t flown on Alaska Airlines since they changed their schedules so that an overnight stay is required in each direction between YVR and ZIH. That requirement pretty much wiped out any advantage of having an Alaska Airlines linked credit card for me.

I wish that AeroMexico would have a Canadian bank affiliate credit card.

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I haven’t cancelled the new MBNA card yet because I haven’t figured out what I’m going to do for a MasterCard. I haven’t flown on Alaska Airlines since they changed their schedules so that an overnight stay is required in each direction between YVR and ZIH. That requirement pretty much wiped out any advantage of having an Alaska Airlines linked credit card for me.

I wish that AeroMexico would have a Canadian bank affiliate credit card.

Using Alaska Miles from Kelowna to Zihua means overnights both ways. Tough to avoid it regardless of which airline we use. But we'll gladly pay the overnight to avoid Aeromexico's red-eye YVR-MEX-ZIH. Brutal.

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Using Alaska Miles from Kelowna to Zihua means overnights both ways. Tough to avoid it regardless of which airline we use. But we'll gladly pay the overnight to avoid Aeromexico's red-eye YVR-MEX-ZIH. Brutal.

I actually liked that schedule. I could sleep on the plane, have a quick breakfast at MEX, and get into ZIH, then Troncones, in the daytime.

AM has cancelled that flight schedule, at least temporarily. I had a reservation for it in October, after Thanksgiving, but AM put me onto different flights.

Depart YVR at 07:35.

Arrive ZIH at 19:59.

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Hey Ironwood....we use RBC/Westjet M/C . Leaves Kelowna 6 a.m and get to Z at about 4p.m Z time

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Hey, Skink! Did you see that Carl Hiaasen has a new novel coming out this week? It is already getting push back from the right wing book banners. Gotta' believe that you have arrived in the world of literature when people want to ban your book.

Wrecker by Carl Hiaasen

P.S. to the more than 90% of UnitedStaters who don't read at least one book per year, especially those who like action movies or happen to like Southern Florida. Pick up any novel from Carl Hiaasen and read at least the first 10 pages. You can get them for free at your local library. Some libraries allow you to download books to your smart phone. If you are not hooked, go ahead and put it down. But I betcha' you will want to finish it. He's a Hoot!

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oooo.....Can't wait...thanks for the heads up!

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And don't forget Tim Dorsey

We just went ot our library page and will get Wrecker in just 21 days!!!! Thanks for the heads up.

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“So how do we spread this good cheer?” “Maybe by skipping. Let’s try skipping. You see someone skipping, and you wish wars would stop. Children skip all the time, but you become an adult and forget to skip. Let’s skip.”
― Tim Dorsey, When Elves Attack

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Just came in from the library and starting it now!!!

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But it's still fun, but nothing like his adult books.

Just finished it, don't bother if you are looking for one of his "real" books.

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I just discovered that Carl was a really good friend of Jimmy Buffet! I bet those conversations were pretty hilarious!

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Hey Ironwood....we use RBC/Westjet M/C . Leaves Kelowna 6 a.m and get to Z at about 4p.m Z time

Same here, and we've done that lousy 6 am flight out of Kelowna several times. Last time it was late leaving YLW and sat at the gate in YYC for 30 minutes before we could deplane. Had to run to catch the ZIH flight.

Oh, I almost forgot: WestJet promised our luggage would go straight through to Zihua. It didn't. And we had to wait four days for it to show up on the next Calgary/Zihua flight.

I'm one of those odd folks who thinks getting up at 3 am to catch a 6 am flight is damned inconvenient, as is arriving back in Kelowna at midnight. Convenient for airlines, a pain for passengers.

We've taken to overnighting in Calgary both ways. They've overbuilt airport-area hotels in Calgary: the prices are almost affordable.

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For convenience, we have always stayed overnight in LAX on the way down. You can make it in one day, but it means a 6 AM flight, which means getting up at 3AM to do it. Due to schedule changes, this year we have to overnight both ways, either in SFO or LAX. Luckily we are retired so everyday is a vacation day, so we don't have to worry about burning limited vacation.

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I will be doing the 6am flight down as I always have to make it in one day from Seattle on Alaska Airlines.
What you may not know yet .. there is now a direct flight out of ZIH to San Diego at 2:10. Go through customs there and off to Seattle at 5:40. We land in Seattle at 8:46. This is on a Saturday. Haven't looked at what they may offer on different days.

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I will be doing the 6am flight down as I always have to make it in one day from Seattle on Alaska Airlines.
What you may not know yet .. there is now a direct flight out of ZIH to San Diego at 2:10. Go through customs there and off to Seattle at 5:40. We land in Seattle at 8:46. This is on a Saturday. Haven't looked at what they may offer on different days.

Last time I checked Alaska on-line, a few days ago, the San Diego/Zihua flights were marked "Pending approval" or something like that.

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I'm booked for February.

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The San Diego flights are only on Saturday.

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Yeppers!

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